If in the Stanford area, an interesting conference will take place the weekend after next (May 16–17) at Stanford University.

Ottoman Topologies will explore spatial experience in the early Ottoman Empire. On May 16, papers and discussions relating to Imagining, Mapping and Building Space will be concentrated on. The following day, the topic will shift to Experiencing, Administering and Digitising Space.

Almost 30 academics will present papers and engage in panels. Of particular interest are Shirine Hamadeh (an Associate Professor of Art History at Rice University and the author of The City’s Pleasures) who will presents on the topic of ‘The everyday spaces of Istanbul’s migrants, 1720–1840’; Amy Singer (a Professor of Ottoman and Turkish History at Tel Aviv University and the author of Feeding People, Feeding Power) who will look at situating an Ottoman city in the time-space continuum with a special focus on Edirne; and Aleksandar Sopov, a PhD student at Harvard University and an expert in Ottoman agricultural practices who spent last summer in Istanbul trying to save the Yedikule bostans. He will present on in the topic ‘Land reclamation and expansion of agricultural production in Ottoman Istanbul and Mamluk Cairo at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century’.

Other topics of interest include ‘landscape and the subjective experience of place in medieval Anatolia’ (Nicolas Trépanier, an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Mississippi); Ottoman cartography (Karen Pinto, an Assistant Professor of History at Gettysburg College and Gottfried Hagen, an Associate Professor of Turkish Studies at the University of Michigan); money and the empire (Şevket Pamuk, Orhan’s brother, a Professor of Economics at Bogaziçi University); and early Ottoman architecture (Patricia Blessing, who teaches medieval history and Islamic art and architecture at Stanford University).

Click here for the full programme. Seating is limited so RSVP to Vladimir Troyansky at vtroyans@stanford.edu if you would like to attend.

Main image shows Alanya, ‘Piri Reis, Kitab-ı Bahriye’ (1525), Walters Art Museum, W.582, fol. 329a.

This year the spring symposium organised by the graduate students of the Department of History of Bilkent University in Ankara went by the intriguing name of Galloping History. Its purpose was to address a glaring lacuna in Turkish letters, namely the almost complete absence of scholarly research on the beast that until recently was an ubiquitous and essential feature of everyday life in the Ottoman empire and Turkish republic. Whether it be farming, war-making, process-ing, trading, racing—horses were once everywhere. Today, outside a few areas where they remain useful, or where traditional horse sports survive, they are rather rarely to be seen in the countryside. Instead, horse ownership has for the most part become the province of an elite, and the extent to which horses were an integral part of life in the past has been largely forgotten.

Horse history is a thriving scholarly field in many places, and the Bilkent symposium was an exuberant corrective to Turkish amnesia. A welcoming speech by historian and former Topkapı Palace director, İlber Ortaylı, was followed by the opening of an exhibition of old photographs and old horse-related books and pamphlets, and participants then had the chance to commune with three equines brought on campus for the purpose. Some of those presenting their research at the conference were themselves riders, while others had had little hands-on experience.

Having admitted how little we know about Ottoman horses, even about those whose owners figure prominently in the written record – sultans and pashas, for instance – we listened to papers from Turkish scholars about the procurement of horses for the palace; palace horse furniture; horse-breeding; and horses in the 1768–74 Ottoman–Russian war; horses sent to the pavilion at the 1893 World Fair in Chicago. In addition, we heard about an early seventeeth century Ottoman manuscript containing 164 horse portraits, and Armenian manuscripts on equine medicine produced in eastern Anatolia.

Horses were once deeply embedded within human history, and when transplanted from one culture to another, performed a role as agents of change. In the English case, this has been well-illustrated in the writing of Donna Landry, a longtime horse historian, and speaker at Bilkent, whose recent book Noble Brutes. How Eastern Horses Transformed English Culture shows that it took only a generation of crossbreeding with local horses to produce the Thoroughbred. This innovation in its turn revolutionised England’s racing and equestrian traditions, literature and art, and thereby profoundly influenced the existing social order.

The themes taken up in the symposium were accordingly wide-ranging: horses as indicators of their owner’ status and class; the horse as a metaphor in human emotion; the symbolism of horse colour; horse eugenics; Carolingian horse travel; horses taken to the Americas by the Spanish; western wonder at horses from the Ottoman east; horses in Native American culture; the taboo against eating horse meat in the USA in the nineteenth and early twentieth century; the some 75,000 horses sent from Idaho for the British army fighting the Boer War; a pre-WW1 Russian cavalry journal; and women race riders in Morocco today.

The activities concluded with a roundtable that included Kudret Emiroğlu, one of the co-authors of Yoldaşımız At, or Our Comrade, the Horse. This storehouse of horse knowledge has thus far been the bible of Ottoman and Republican equine history. With the Galloping History symposium a first step has been taken towards more systematic investigation of materials relating to horses in the historical record. Such a promising beginning must surely lead to the development of what deserves to become a crowded area of research.

Caroline Finkel is the author of Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1600–1923 and co-author with Kate Clow and Donna Landry of The Evliya Çelebi Way: Turkey's First Long-Distance Walking and Riding Route.

We are in Beyoğlu this week – more specifically, the neighbourhoods of Asmalı Mescit (above) and Tepebaşı – where some of our favourite galleries are showcasing art from emerging and established artists who are a little experimental with their craft. We also stop by the Pera Museum for new exhibitions from two masters of print.

Ardan Özmenoğlu, ‘He is My Sun’, 2014

ARDAN ÖZMENOĞLU’S SCULPTURES

Start at the Tünel side of Istiklâl Caddesi. Down Asmalı Mescid Caddesi, at No 5, the inviting ALAN Istanbul is hosting the Turkish artist Ardan Özmenoğlu’s solo show Sculptures. Says the gallery’s director, Hande Ikbay: ‘Özmenoğlu is one of the most creative young artists working not only in Turkey but also on the international contemporary art scene. Her production process is very dynamic and exciting, and it touches the viewer.’ Out of these innovative sculptures, most of which utilise glass, Ikbay chooses the works above and below as her favourites. Prices range from $US10,000 to $US20,000.

Ardan Özmenoğlu, ‘London Cloud’, 2014

Asked about the inspiration for her art, the artist says: ‘It springs from the idea of repetition and investigates the process of image consumption, history and permanence in relation to mass production. In some of my pieces, repetition provides social commentary, while in others it conjures a feeling of ritual and a more contemplative mood. In terms of my choice of material, I have always been fascinated by glass, partly because its ubiquitous quality is based in its transparency and so-called solidity. But, of course its solidity is a masquerade.’

One of Tanju Özışık’s paintings

TANJU ÖZIŞIK

Turn right down the first perpendicular street you come across. At No 12, on the second floor, the homely Galatea Art is showcasing the latest paintings of the Ankara-born painter Tanju Özışık who depicts humorous scenes of everyday life on his canvases. Enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Ludovic Bernhardt, ‘StrobFREUD (Civilization and Its Discontents)’, installation: strobe, chains, graphite drawing on a piece of rubber, 2014, TL6,000

LUDOVIC BERNHARDT’S DRONES, PILLS AND YANTRAS

Backtrack to Asmalı Mescid Caddesi and at No 32 the two-storey Sanatorium is hosting a solo exhibition of the Paris-based artist Ludovic Bernhardt, interestingly entitled Drones, Pills and Yantras. 'What I particularly like about Bernhardt,' says the gallery’s director, Feza Velicangil, 'is that his work has a strong undertone of irony, but he presents this in a very aesthetic way. There are many underlying messages, and on the first look the viewer might not immediately recognise these disturbing undertones.’ The installation above and the diagrams of birth control pills (below) are some of Velicangil’s favourites. ‘The YantraPILLS diagrams are very beautiful, calling to mind ornamental images, and the installation is very, very powerful,’ she adds. Prices range from TL200 to TL9,000.

Ludovic Bernhardt, ‘YantraPILLS #1’ (details), 2014, print on fine-art paper, 3+1 AP, 150 x 165 cm, TL5,000

Asked about the underlying theme of his oeuvre, the artist says: ‘That’s easy: Foucault’s bio-politics. Generally I try to confront unusual or more or less incompatible subjects. For example, I mix drones with pills, riot with medicine and detergents with drones. These associations can bring interesting political ideas forward. The three objects I am concentrating on in this exhibition in some way reflect a bio-political environment. My exhibition also explores relevant elements that are present in our everyday lives: domestic, private and political.’

Merve Morkoç

MERVE MORKOÇ’S 2+1

On perpendicular Meşrutiyet Caddesi, the consistently good Galerist, at No 67, is hosting a solo exhibition of the emerging artist, Merve Morkoç. In 2+1, the artist uses a variety of techniques and materials to comment on the relationship between people and their living spaces. The resulting works are textured, abstract paintings and mini-sculptures that are at once beautiful and grotesque. Enquire directly with the gallery for prices. 

Andy Warhol, ‘Mick Jagger’,
1975, screenprint on paper, 87/250 110.5 x 73.7 cm

ANDY WARHOL’S POP ART FOR EVERYONE

Next door, the Pera Museum has two new exciting shows. First up is a comprehensive exhibition of the paragon of pop art, Andy Warhol. The fourth and fifth floors have been given a splash of colour, with walks painted in bright greens, yellows and pinks to provide the perfect background for Warhol’s colourful silkscreen series and drawings, iconic works such as ‘Campbell’s Soup’, ‘Cowboys and Indians’, ‘Endangered Species’ and ‘Flowers’; and his portraits of well-known figures – many shown here for the first time in Turkey. All the works come from the Zoya Museum Private Collection in Slovakia, Modra (Warhol’s parents migrated to America from Slovakia).

Andy Warhol, ‘Flowers’, 1970, portfolio of ten works, Ed. 108/250, screenprint on paper, 91.4 x 91.4 cm

James Warhola, the artist’s nephew, says he believes an Andy Warhol exhibition is particularly appropriate for Istanbul because he was was fascinated and influenced by the intense gold colour found in Byzantine icons, as well as by the icons themselves. You can even take a piece of Pop Art for Everyone home – five of Warhol’s famous works have been turned into posters which are for sale.

Stephen Chambers, ‘The Big Country’, 2012, screenprint on paper, 78 individual panels, each 56x76 cm, private Collection, London, photo: Peter Abrahams

STEPHEN CHAMBERS’S BIG COUNTRY AND OTHER STORIES

Meanwhile, on the Pera's third floor there is a survey exhibition of the English artist Stephen Chambers, entitled Big Country and Other Stories. Curated by Edith Devaney, curator of contemporary projects at the Royal Academy in London, the exhibition centres on Chambers’s massive work ‘The Big Country’ (above). Inspired by the landscape and scale of the 1958 American western of the same name, the huge print measures 3m tall x 15m wide and includes 78 individual prints. In the artist’s words, the work ‘references maps, travel and migration and incorporates vignettes and suggested narratives featuring encounters between real and imagined historical figures’.

Stephen Chambers, ‘In the old days no one could surpass me in gluttony. Having lost everything I am left to sitting between two stools in the ashes’, from the series ‘Flemish Proverbs’, 2013, oil on board, 12 individual panels, each 39cm x49cm, private collection; 
photo: FS Photography

The exhibition also includes a great selection of Chambers’s paintings, including a new series produced last year especially for this exhibition (above). Like Warhol, Chambers uses colour brilliantly, though these are more muted than Warhol’s ultra-vivid pieces. There is another similarity between the two artists, which is one of the reasons they have been exhibited together. Says the museum’s general manager, M. Özalp Birol: ‘They are both masters of print in the 21st century. But what is important, and must not be forgotten, is that they both also paint.’

If you still have it in you, there are some excellent permanent exhibitions at Pera. The Intersecting Worlds: Ambassadors and Painters exhibition on Level 2 is a fascinating look into the relationship that existed between the Ottoman Empire and Europe for over three centuries as seen through the eyes of court painters. Meanwhile, on Level 1, there are floor-to-ceiling glass cabinets displaying Anatolian weights and measures, as well as coffee paraphernalia from Kütahya – all from the Suna and Inan Kıraç Foundation, founders of the Museum.

Main image courtesy of www.mimarizm.com. 

Key: Blue – ALAN Istanbul, Green – Galatea Art, Yellow – Sanatorium, Red – Galerist, Purple – Pera Museum

Click here for the interactive map.

There’s just one month left to apply for the 2014 Ayvalık International Music Academy (AIMA).

Founded in 1998 by Prof. Filiz Ali, one of the most dynamic of Turkey’s musicologists, AIMA has blossomed into a centre of musical excellence. As in every year, this year’s line-up of teachers is impressive.

First up is the Violin-Viola Masterclass taking place between July 1 and 8 and conducted by a bevvy of international soloists including the Austrian violinist Lukas David; two Ukranian violinists Andrej Bielow and Vladimir Mykytka; and two Turkish violinists Çiğdem İyicil and the Pelin Halkacı. Between July 16 and 22, the leading Greek guitarist Elena Papandreou will conduct the Guitar Masterclass. In August there are two masterclasses running at the same time (August 24–31): the Flute Masterclass will be conducted by the award-winning flutist Gülşen Tatu who graduated from the Izmir State Conservatory and the Clarinet Masterclass will be conducted by the internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician and jazz clarinetist Julian Milkis. One of Turkey’s greatest concert pianists Idil Biret will conduct the Piano Masterclass between September 2 and 9. Finally, the Violoncello Masterclass will take place between September 12 and 19 and be conducted by the renowned German cellist Maria Kliegel. The AIMA Music Festival will take place between July 8 and 10.

Classes take place at the AIMA retreat in the beautiful northern Aegean town of Ayvalık. The gorgeous seaside villa is definitely a perk for the young musicians that will be attending these masterclasses – there’s really no better way to spend the summer. In Cornucopia No 41, Berrin Torolsan tells how she found inspiration for her book At Home in Turkey while visiting the ‘deliciously distressed house’ of antiquarian, Selden Emre on the island of Cunda in Ayvalık.

Deadline for applications is June 10, 2014. Click here to download the application form.

As if to provide a counterpoint to the self-absorbed tone evident in many of the events planned for British commemoration of WW1, a conference held at Bilgi University in Istanbul between April 8 and 12 emphasised the global nature of that terrible conflict. Eighty-plus panelists and keynote speakers addressed a rich variety of topics at a meeting underwritten by Turkish, German and French bodies. A handful of British academics presented papers.

The conference was entitled 'Not all Quiet on the Ottoman Fronts: Neglected Perspectives on a Global War, 1914–18', and was particularly important because it was the first time that Ottoman participation in the war had been subjected to detailed academic scrutiny by the grandchildren of those who were drawn willynilly into the defining event of the 20th century. The topic having found little favour hitherto, a younger generation of Turkish scholars is now researching the multiple facets of the Empire's engagement in WW1. Alongside these scholars are others, non-Turks, most of them also at the start of their careers, who likewise find the topic urgent.

A welcoming reception was held in the grandiose surroundings of the Kaisersaal of the former German Embassy, which now serves as the Consulate. Erik-Jan Zürcher of Leiden University spoke on the theme of what was different about the Ottoman war from the war experiences of the European states. The Kaiser himself was with us in spirit—in an adjoining room hangs a full length portrait in military dress painted at the height of the war. This was intended as a gift for Sultan Mehmed V, to be presented at the time of Wilhelm's third visit to the city in 1917. But it was not to be: the portrait never reached its intended recipient, and still graces the Consulate walls.

The second keynote speaker was Jay Winter of Yale University, who persuasively put the case for collaborative, trans-national history, and collective rather than national memorialisation. Third came Mete Tuncay of Bilgi University, who spoke first about Alexander Helphand, the Russian revolutionary, German social democrat and Young Turk adviser—known in Turkey as Parvus Efendi—who encouraged Enver Paşa and his fellows to enter the war on the German side. Tuncay also put forward for debate the question of whether the end of the Ottoman Empire was inevitable. Conference-related activities included a day-long workshop held at the Institut Francaise des Etudes Ottomanes on the topic of teaching WW1 to high school students, and a documentary theatre performance in the German Military Cemetery in Tarabya.

The conference proper was run with two parallel sessions, each panel having three or four speakers. The topics considered were:
o Forced Migration in Western Anatolia: Socio-economic, Legal and Ideological aspects
o The Politics of Food in Wartime: Local, Imperial and International Contexts
o Demographic Warfare in the Ottoman Empire (1914-22): From Imperial Perspectives to Regional Dimensions
o Violence and Resilience in Arab and Armenian Experiences of the Great War
o Intelligence, Spies and Irregular Warfare
o Bringing the Periphery back to the Center
o Social and Economic Perspectives: Between State Policy and Unheard Voices
o Individuality, Textuality and Autobiography in Wartimes
o Propaganda: Uses and Failures
o Identities at War: Gender, Motherhood and Female Labor
o Strategy and Social Structure: A Look at the Experience of the Great War and its Effects on Social Norms and Ethno-confessional Identity
o Visuality of War in Propaganda
o Germany, Colonialism and the Armenian Genocide
o "Crime" and Punishment: Prisons and Prisoners of War
o Wartime Perceptions, Post-war Representation and Memory
o The Experience of Officers and Soldiers on Ottoman Fronts during WW1
o Religious and Ethnic Minorities in the Armies of the Allied and Central Powers
o Converting and Conflicting Ideologies in Wartime
o Representing the Ottoman World War: Cultural Diplomacy, Memory and Remembrance
o Conflict, Entertainment and Urban Memory in Imperial Cosmopolitan Cities (1914-22)

The variety of topics demonstrates that a corner has been turned. Two earlier conferences laid the ground. In 2001 the Orient Institute in Beirut held a meeting dedicated to exploring the ways in which the war is remembered in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, and in 2005, political and legal interference notwithstanding, Bilgi University hosted a conference on 'Ottoman Armenians during the era of Ottoman decline'. This prepared the ground, by breaking the taboo on discussing the fate of these subjects of the sultan.

The air has cleared, and the way is open for scholars to investigate this critical phase of Ottoman history as historians should, and thereby to overturn the official account of events on a sound evidential basis. At this moment of national introspection in Britain, when we seem to have little will to think beyond our island story, it was exciting to be part of a gathering where the wide range of subjects addressed, and the high quality of the research presented, set a standard for other WW1 commemorative events to emulate.

This centenary year of the outbreak of the war sees the launch in October of the public-access Online Encyclopedia of the First World War. As well as individual topics, entries are grouped both thematically and regionally, to give as comprehensive a view of the war as our present state of understanding allows. The editorial board comprises some 90 historians from 22 countries., and the articles in this collaborative undertaking have been written by acknowledged experts as well as scholars whose research is transforming the field.

Many of those responsible for editing and for writing about the Ottoman role in WW1 were present at the Bilgi University conference. Their work is shifting the focus away from the emphasis on central and western Europe to remind us of the global character of the war, and the extent to which European empires mobilised the manpower and other resources of their hapless colonial subjects.

We continue our walk in Beyoğlu this week, concentrating on the area around Galatasaray where a research centre, a building full of galleries and another small gallery are hosting a mix of intriguing shows.

Nazlı’s Guestbook exhibition view

NAZLI’S GUESTBOOK

Just past the Galatasaray Lyceé, at Istiklal Caddesi No 181, the Research Centre for Anatolian Civilisations (RCAC) has a new exhibition of interest. In Nazlı’s Guestbook, the guestbook belonging to Nazlı Hamdi, the youngest child of the renowned artist, archaeologist and founder of the Imperial Museum, Osman Hamdi Bey, gets a look-in. As with all RCAC endeavours, this exhibition is expertly put together and sheds light on the cultural milieu of the era by highlighting the signatures of the leading intellectuals of the period.

Burçak Bingöl, ‘Shift I’, 2014, ceramic, metal, 35 x 16 x 18 cm

BURÇAK BINGÖL’S A CARRIAGE AFFAIR

Backtrack towards the Galatasaray Lyceé and at No 163 you will find the Mısır Apartment, a building known for its contemporary art galleries. On the second floor, Galeri Zilberman’s first space is hosting the works of the promising young Turkish artist, Burçak Bingöl. In A Carriage Affair, Bingöl ‘explores issues of identity and collective consciousness and re-introduces the debate about art and craft and high and low culture,’ says the gallery’s sales director, Vassilios Doupas. ‘I I feel she is one of the most interesting artists of her generation,’ he adds. Works are priced at $3,000+.

Burçak Bingöl, ‘Cruise’, 2014, ceramic, 200 x 190 x 30 cm

Asked to explain the underlying theme of the exhibition, Bingöl says: ‘Alienation. I copy an object and transform it into something foreign and unusual. The centrepiece is based on a real truck, but by breaking it into pieces and decorating it with traditional Turkish motifs, I am able to convey the great sense of alienation our society faces.’

Kay Rosen, ‘Memory of Red’, two-color lithograph with embossing on Magnani litho paper, 26.5 x 40.6 cm

KAY ROSEN

On the third floor, Galeri Zilberman’s second space is hosting an exhibition by the American artist Kay Rosen, who is interested in the limitations and possibilities of language. ‘The artist was intrigued by the rich history of Istanbul but also by the recent political events, particularly last year’s protests,' Doupas says. 'She has created a new site-specific work inspired by these tensions, which is presented next to her trademark paintings.’ Prices range from $20,000 to $50,000.

Kay Rosen, ‘Instinct’, 2007, enamel sign paint on canvas, 42.5 x 35.6 cm

Rosen’s work is represented in the permanent collections of such renowned museums as MoMA and the Whitney in New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, so this is a very exciting show for both the gallery and audiences.

Gülay Semercioğlu’s exhibition view

GÜLAY SEMERCIOĞLU’S WALKING ON THE WIRE

On the fourth floor, Pi Artworks is hosting the Turkish artist Gülay Semercioğlu. In Walking on the Wire, Semercioğlu presents her latest works created using her signature style of thin, coloured silver wire looped around a firm wooden frame. The thinness of the wire and the density of the overlapping layers create surfaces that appear like shimmering, glossy blocks of smooth colour when seen from a distance, while from close by you can see fluctuating tonal modulations as light is reflected and refracted from each individual strand. The visually arresting works are reminiscent of peacock feathers. Prices range from $40,000 to $50,000.

Michael Bishop

MICHAEL BISHOP’S SUSPICIOUS EXPLANATIONS

Across the hall, Galeri Nev is hosting the California-based artist Michael Bishop. Suspicious Explanations displays his photographs printed on felt, sculptures and an installation. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Michael Bishop

Bishop says of his work: ‘My sculptures and prints at Galeri Nev reflect a continuing interest in the convergence and divergence of visual, spoken and written language. For me, making sense and fracturing sense can lead to the same place. The iconography I cling to has a way of surviving that is always astounding to me. Counting and collecting or usurping number sets always leads for me to some kind of calming and unification of the visual.’

Bahar Yürükoğlu, ‘Primordial Future’

BAHAR YÜRÜKOĞLU’S SELF-TITLED

On the fifth floor, the Nesrin Esirtgen Collection is for a change hosting a show by a solo artist (the gallery usually displays its collection). In Self-Titled, the young Boston-based Turkish artist Bahar Yürükoğlu presents interesting multi-media installations and videos. The gallery’s manager, Berçin Damgacı says: ‘Drawing connections between contemporary culture and the natural landscape, Yürükoğlu uses the contrast of the artificial and the natural to bring attention to the tensions that arise in a society of mass consumption and the effects this has on the landscape. Her site-specific installations are, at the same time, naive and influential.’ Damgacı and Yürükoğlu both picked the above installation as their favourite. Says the artist: ‘It is able to transform the gallery space into an otherworldly experience.’ Works can be purchased directly from the artist. For prices, email byuruk@me.com.

Bahar Yürükoğlu, ‘Pink Ice’, Video Still, 2014

Damgacı also says the above video shouldn't be missed.  ‘This is my newest work,' Yürükoğlu, ' and marks a new beginning in my process, but it also deals with my interest in perception, space and colour.’

Catherine Van Den Steen, one of four artists shown at Gama

GROUP EXHIBITION

Keep heading down İstiklâl Caddesi, past the Galatasaray Lycée, and turn down the first street on your right. On Turnacıbaşı Caddesi, a narrow street full of interesting art boutiques and vintage shops, Gama is hosting a group exhibition of four contemporary French painters. Please enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Key: Blue – RCAC, Red – Mısır Apartment (Galeri Zilberman, Pi Artworks, Galeri Nev, Nesrin Esirtgen Collection), Green – Gama

Click here for the interactive map.

Main photo: WikiMedia Commons

Next Tuesday, this year’s International Dance Festival, now its 15th edition, will open in Bodrum for five days of dancing, music and colour. There will be dance competitions, photography contests, street performances, a parade, cultural workshops and dance parties, all open to the public and all free to attend. 

The non-profit festival is organised by the Bodrum Dance Club Association and will involve the participation of local dance groups, children’s groups, folk dance associations and state school dancing unions. The biggest draw card is the participation of dance groups from 14 guest countries. Although the majority of these are in the region surrounding Turkey (including Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Caucasus), there will also be dance groups from China (Chinese Flying Dragons), Cuba (Caribbean Dance troupe), Ghana (Africa’s Dream Circus) and Portugal (Grupo de Danças e Cantares do Casal do Rato). Click here to see the full list of participating countries and their dance troupes. 

Last year's parade

The festival will open with a two-km Festival Parade, in which participating dance groups will walk (or more appropriately dance) in their traditional costumes. The majority of the events will take place at Bodrum’s Antique Theatre, an ancient amphitheatre built during Roman times. There will also be events at the Town Hall Square and the 15th-century Crusader Castle of St Peter (Bodrum Castle). Stages for street performances will be set up at the Pier, the Square and the Milta Marina. Previous editions have attracted large crowds and the idea is for the whole city to engage in this lively, community-forming event.

Another really nice thing about this festival is that it is being organised and run by 30 young volunteers from European and neighbouring countries. This special initiative aims to promote the mobility and personal development of young people, and also gives them a chance to explore new cultures.

The 15th Bodrum International Dance Festival takes place from May 20 to 25. Visit the website for more information.

Words cannot express the unimaginable horror inflicted on the mining community of Manisa. And our sympathy goes to every last member.

Cornucopia readers are welcome to share information about how assistance of any kind can be provided by writing to feedback@cornucopia.net.

Meanwhile, Turkish Philanthropy Funds have contacted us regarding this appeal: Soma Disaster Relief Fund: ‘100 % of all donations to the fund will be granted to organisations assisting victims of the disaster including giving scholarships to children of the miners who have lost their lives. Currently, we are compiling information about the best way to support the miners, their families and the mining community in Soma. We will update you as we receive information.’

Checks to ‘Turkish Philanthropy Funds’ may also be sent to:

Turkish Philanthropy Funds
Re: Soma Disaster Relief Fund
216 East 45th Street, 7th Fl.
New York, New York 10017

Please indicate ‘Soma Disaster Relief Fund’ on the check.

For additional information, please email TPF at info@tpfund.org

The inaugural GREAT Festival of Creativity will take place this week at Sakıp Sabancı Museum’s The Seed. 

Organised by the UK government and with the help of some top creative organisations, the festival (the first of three) aims to be a dynamic celebration of creativity in business. Seeking to create a new dialogue between global enterprises, the festival gives participants the opportunity to get a deeper understanding of how creativity, from Britain and beyond, functions. 

Live talks, panel debates and one-to-one networking sessions between respected businesses from Turkey and Britain will take place over three days. The festival concentrates on the industries of fashion, design, luxury, technology, education and food and drink, and will also showcase interesting designers and brands in those industries. Some names to look out for is the British fashion designer Christopher Raeburn; the London-based design studio Oliver Ruuger, which makes luxury accessories, exquisite objets d’art and unique sculptural products; Universal Everything, a pioneering company specilising in producing motion-captured videos; Crafted, a mentoring programme which aims to connect successful and emerging businesses; and the Cotswold restaurant The Wild Rabbit. 

Sessions will be held by the Greek, London-based fashion designer Mary Katrantzou, known for her hyper-real and paradisiacal prints; the director of BBC Worldwide Tim Davie; the Cairo-born, London-based cookery writer Claudia Roden, whose recipe for yoghurt soup can be found in Turkish Cookery; and the director of the V&A Museum Martin Roth. 

The festival takes place between May 20 and 22, 2014. Visit the website for more information. Click here to register. 

Main image shows Mary Katrantzou, from her website. 

We are in Taksim/Cihangir for our gallery walk this week, visiting three of our favourite galleries, who are each hosting an evocative solo exhibition.

Cemil Batur Gökçeer, ‘Untitled’, 2012, C-print Dibond, 60 x 75 cm, 110 x 135 cm

CEMIL BATUR GÖKÇEER’S THE CLOSEST POSSIBILITY

The three galleries we visit are all located on Sıraserviler Caddesi, the street linking Taksim to Cihangir. At No 10 The Empire Project is hosting the first solo exhibition in Istanbul of the promising young photographer, Cemil Batur Gökçeer, entitled The Closest Possibility. The gallery’s owner, Kerimcan Güleryüz, a veteran of Istanbul’s contemporary art scene, says of Gökçeer: ‘He is reminiscent of the young Italian journalist Italo Calvino, although his medium is film rather than words. I strongly feel that Gökçeer’s works, as well as Ali Taptık’s, are truly setting the new standard for photography – not just in Turkey, but in the industry as a whole.’ Prices range from TL400 to TL5,000 + VAT.

Cemil Batur Gökçeer, ‘Untitled’, 2012, fineart print, 8 x 10 cm

Güleryüz continues: ‘The emphasis and the heavy-handed use of "narrative" has become almost the only method of artistic discourse in Turkey. However, Gökçeer refuses to fall prey to this. He is exploring and adding a lot of new territory to the scene. His brilliant use of the medium is refreshing and his self-assured courage enables him to let his audience fill in the gaps, which is very engaging.’

Apostolos Georgiou, ‘Untitled’, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 220 x 220 cm

APOSTOLOS GEORGIOU

Across the street at No 49, Sylvia Kouvali’s Rodeo will open the solo show of the renowned Greek painter Apostolos Georgiou this Saturday (May 24). Georgiou’s beautiful paintings, which resemble murals, are about people in spaces. He casts an expert but gentle eye on human relationships and moments in life, and this is what inspires him – family, friends, his physique, the pain and happiness he has experienced. Another source of inspiration is Greece in the 1950s and there is definitely something retro about his paintings. Enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Elmas Deniz, ‘Seeing the Black Panther’, 2014, found object, illuminated magnifier, 13.5 x 16cm

ELMAS DENIZ’S SEEING THE BLACK PANTHER

Further down, at No 83, where Sıraserviler Caddesi is about to become Defterdar Yokuşu (with the famous Cihangir tea garden on the corner), the pioneering Pilot is hosting a solo show of the young Turkish artist, Elmas Deniz, entitled Seeing the Black Panther. The gallery’s founder, Azra Tuzunoğlu, says: ‘Deniz is an artist who focuses on ideas rather than on a specific medium. She deeply researches the issues of interest to her and chooses the most relevant medium for exploring them. I like the installation "Seeing the Black Panther", which depicts a black panther on a black background with an illuminated lens – she is trying to make the invisible visible. I also like the work about calculations whose message focuses on putting a monetary value on nature.’ Prices range from €1,000 to €7,000.

Elmas Deniz, ‘Price Discovery (calculations)’, 2014, pattern on paper, framed

Elmas Deniz herself says: ‘The exhibition is about our relationship with nature and how our attitude has been affected, or better, infected by the current economic system. The main points I want to explore are monetary value, consumption culture and the commodification of nature. The core of the exhibition is a video work entitled "The Tree I Want to Buy". In this work I created a situation to show my broken relationship with nature. The other line of thought that is explored in the exhibition is the consumption of images – our perception and rating of them.’

Main image shows the colourful facades seen in Cihangir (courtesy of WikiMedia Commons).

Key: Blue – The Empire Project, Red – Rodeo, Yellow – Pilot

Click here for interactive map.

The 19th London Turkish Film Festival (LTFF) opens tomorrow for 10 days of Turkish films in what has been a very good year for the cinema industry. Coincidentally, it celebrates its 100th year this year. On the international scene, the Berlinale included four Turkish films in its official selection and the Turkish master director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep is currently in competition at Cannes (the winner will be announced on May 25). The concurrently running New York Film Festival (May 16–25) is also screening a number of films that will grace the screens in London. Meanwhile on home turf, last month’s Istanbul Film Festival introduced many of the films in competition at the LTFF to Istanbul audiences.

Still from ‘Seaburners’

The shortlist of films competing for the LTFF Distribution Award is eclectic and features a number of films that deal with issues pertinent to modern Turkey. They include: Atıl Inaç’s sharply satirical Circle (main image); Derviş Zaim’s Cycle, an intriguing blend of fiction and documentary; Ramin Martin’s multi-award winning drama The Impeccables, which we covered in a previous blog; Melisa Önel’s chilling debut feature Seaburners; internationally acclaimed director Reha Erdem’s latest Singing Women; and Mahmut Fazıl Coşkun’s musical drama Yozgat Blues, which has been chosen for this year’s Opening Gala.

Still from ‘The Particle’

Other films that will be screened include Levent Semerci’s Ayhan Hanım, which wowed audiences at this year’s Istanbul Film Festival; Zeynep Dadak and Merve Kayane’s The Blue Wave, which also won big at last year’s Golden Orange Film Festival and made it into Sundance and Berlinale this year; Cemil Ağacıkoğl’s poignant Forgive Me; Alphan Eşeli’s intense First World War drama The Long Way Home; Akçay Katıksız's powerful debut feature Nobody’s Home; Erdem Tepegöz’s The Particle, which tells the story of a single working woman – a rarity in Turkey’s cinema; amongst others. 

Still from ‘Taşkafa: Stories of the Street’

The programme also features a wonderful selection of this year’s top documentaries and short films. Subjects range from monastery life in The Guest, to a portrait of the filmmaker Ahmet Uluçay in A Dream School in the Steppes to Andrea Luka Zimmerman’s Taşkafa: Stories of the Street, which premiered at the Istanbul Film Festival last year and screened at the Alchemy Film Festival last month (read Tim Cornwell’s review here).

All films will be screened either once, twice or three times in four cinemas in London: the charming Rio Cinema in Dalston (where it all began in 1993), the Hackney Picturehouse, the O2 Cineworld and the Dolby Theatre in Soho. Click here to see the full programme.

The end of May is perfect for watching birds make their way back to the warmer weather of Western Asia and Europe after a winter in Africa. Many species can be observed flying over the Bosphorus Strait, dubbed the ‘international bird highway’, including Eagles (the Imperial, the Booted and the Lesser Spotted varieties), Hawks, Falcons, Buzzards (the Common and the Honey varieties), the Levant Sparrowhawk, Condors, Ibises and the White and Black Storks. Birds choose to migrate over the Bosporus due to its suitable flow of air, which especially appeals to birds with large wingspans (the condor, for example), allowing them to expend minimum energy while making maximum progress.

Although not a very popular activity in Turkey (Today’s Zaman reported in 2012 that out of a population of around 75 million there are only around 2,500 bird watchers, whereas in England, with a population of around 62 million, there are approximately one and a half million bird watchers), bird-watching tourism is becoming more popular. Tourists interested in birds flock to Istanbul and Turkey from all over. 

The so-called ‘hairpin bend’ in Istanbul’s Sarıyer district, 700 meters down the road from Koç University, is said to be one of the best places from which to watch birds in the springtime. Bird Watch Turkey also recommends Lakes Terkos and Büyükçekmece. The latter is a particularly popular spot, and at this time of year the lagoons of the south of the lake hold different varieties of gull, including the Mediterranean, Little, Yellow-legged and Slender-billed. In the coming summer months you will also be able to spot the Black-headed Bunting and the Calandra Lark in the field north of the lake. At Lake Terkos, a spring or summer visit will yield Bee-eaters, Orioles and Warblers. Çamlıca Hill in Üsküdar is another popular spot and in Cornucopia 41 the photographer Soner Bekir showed some of the species that make the journey across the Bosphorus, including the Semi-Collared Flycatcher and the Eurasian Black Vulture, one of the largest birds in the world.

In the past, bird activity has also been reported near Garipçe, where the third bridge is unfortunately being built. Yet another reason to get upset about this bridge is that it is likely to have a negative effect on bird migration – the development will alter the airflow over the strait and throw the migrating birds off their route. And as the building of the bridge will also result in the destruction of a large portion of the Belgrade Forest, the birds will have nowhere to stop for the night. Predatory birds especially like to sleep in forestlands and fly during the day. With a estimated 90% of predatory birds migrating over the Bosphorus, the destruction of the forest is a frightening thing indeed for our feathered friends.

Main image shows the Booted Eagle. Courtesy of Bird Watch Turkey. www.birdwatchturkey.com for more information

We are in the city’s gallery hub, Karaköy/Tophane, this week for a plethora of solo shows dealing with far-reaching issues.

Olga Kisseleva, ‘Contre Temps’, 2014, video after performance at Louvre Museum, France in 2013

OLGA KISSELEVA’S TIME IS MONEY

Start at Karaköy Square, then take a steep right onto Bankalar Caddesi where at No 2 the Sabancı University’s downtown arts and culture centre, Kasa Galeri (main image), is hosting an exhibition by the Russian new media artist Olga Kisseleva, entitled Time is Money.

Olga Kisseleva, ‘Time Value’, 2013, graphic series

Says the gallery’s manager, Çağlar Çetin: ‘The works have shaken me as they show how we undervalue our time, which we consider totally priceless, in today’s capitalist world.’ The works are not for sale.

Rona Pondick, ‘Worry Beads’, 1999–2001, bronze, 3.81 x 5.08 x 60.96 cm

THREE SOLOS

Make your way out onto Kemeraltı Caddesi and head towards the Tophane tram stop. At No 141 the Krampf Gallery is in its last week of displaying three very important names in contemporary art. The renowned American sculptor Rona Pondick, the British artist Marc Quinn and the French designer-cum-installation artist Thierry Dreyfus are showcased over three floors in an exhibition entitled Three Solos. Dreyfus’s works are priced at €10,000+, Pondick’s at $50,000+ and Quinn’s flower paintings are $200,000 to $250,000.

Thierry Dreyfus, ‘Haydarpasa’, 2010, chromogenic colour print, 80 x 80 cm

The gallery’s founder Regis Krampf says: ‘We talk about the animal kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, but never about the human kingdom.’ In this exhibition, Pondick represents the animal kingdom, Quinn the plant kingdom with a selection of his colourful flower paintings, and Dreyfus the human kingdom. ‘Dreyfus is the only one focusing on the man-made; his work is urban. I had fun putting the different works in context with the title, but really the show should be seen as three solo shows.’ 

TWO FACES OF STRUGGLE

Keep heading towards the Tophane tram stop and inland, at the bottom of Kumbaracı Yokuşu, the steep straight lane leading up to Istiklal, you will find the former tobacco warehouse that now houses DEPO, where the current exhibition is not of contemporary art per se. Curated by Hüseyin Karabey, Two Faces of Struggle brings together photographs and video footage which the young artist Kamuran Erkaçmaz shot over seven months of travelling around Turkey. These powerful images endeavour to bring us face to face with the victims of the 30-year long conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Cins, ‘Desirous moods II’, 2013, cut-up, mixed media on board, 50 cm x 54.5 cm

CINS’ ERÖR

Backtrack across the park to the next street leading up to Istiklal (directly opposite the Kılıç Ali Paşa complex) Boğazkesen Caddesi. At No 45 the industrial space Mixer has been given a street-art makeover. A mad but colourful mural on the gallery’s exterior sets the tone for what is to come: an exhibition of graffiti works by the artist Cins, entitled Erör. Says the gallery’s director, Bengü Gün: ‘We have been working with Cins for more than a year at Mixer Open Space but he is more known on the streets than within the confines of a gallery. I particularly like the "Desirous Moods" series, which are cut-up collages on a blackboard. Cins’s works depict bones, organ parts and skulls and they are all painted in vivid colours, which is the artist’s trademark. These collages visualise the thin line between life and death. The skulls in these works are depicted screaming to warn of an impending disaster.’ The price range is TL750 to TL7,000.

Cins, ‘Expectation from the above’, 2014, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 140 cm x 125 cm

The artist himself says: ‘It may be wrong to say that the works in this exhibition are all based on a certain theme. Each piece tells its own story. But what they do have in common is that they are all illustrating "ironic and defective" situations that we create ourselves. With my personal visual language I aim to alienate these situations, while drawing the viewer into the story. The organic forms, reminiscent of flesh and bones, are the abstract and figurative states of human beings.’

Cemre Yeşil, ‘This was when I wondered what she had been through’, 25 x 25 cm

CEMRE YEŞIL’S THIS WAS

Across the road at No 76A, Daire is hosting the young Turkish photographer Cemre Yeşil and her series entitled This Was. Says the gallery’s founder, Selin Söl: ‘I find Cemre’s photography very creative and sentimental. There is a human touch to all her photographs and they all seem to tell a different story to the respective spectator. Each person’s experience of her photos might be different but the ones that strike a chord with me particularly are “This was when I wondered what she had been through” and “Was this a sign?”’ Price ranges from TL500 to TL6,500.

Cemre Yeşil, ‘Was this a sign?, 55 x 55 cm

‘After I hung my works on the gallery's walls,' Cemre says, 'I realised that my favourite was the one that kind of says goodbye to visitors when they leave the gallery. In a way, it is also my way of saying goodbye to the works I have done. This work doesn’t feature a sentence like the rest of the works… but it feels complete.’

A work by Extrastruggle

EXTRASTRUGGLE’S THERE IS NO GOD IN THE SKY ONLY BIRDS

If you are brave enough to continue the steep climb, Galeri NON, on a side street called Nur-i-Ziya Sokak, is displaying an interesting exhibition of the controversial artist Extrastruggle.

A work by Extrastruggle

In There is no God in the Sky only Birds, the artist presents a collection of conceptual works spanning multiple media that question authority and a controlling government in Turkey’s sensitive political climate. Since 1997 the artist’s work has set out to tell the biography of Turkey; the country’s controversial history and its shaky political past and present. Some powerful stuff indeed. Enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Main image courtesy of Kasa Galeri's Facebook page.

Key: Blue – Kasa Gallery, Red – Krampf Gallery, Green – DEPO, Yellow – Mixer, Purple – Daire, Magenta – Galeri NON

Click here to see the interactive map.

A timely exhibition at SALT in the age of wars and revolutions, guns and cameras, governmental control and free reign on social media, focuses on the work of the Lebanese actor, theatre director, playwright and visual artist, Rabih Mroué, a member of the generation of artists who came to prominence in the decade that followed the Lebanese civil war in 1990. Spread across SALT's Galata and Beyoğlu venues, this selection of Mroué's work spans his recent career. 

Mroué’s work analyses the effects of war, ongoing conflicts in the region, the social and political implications of images and the writing of history. Evident in much of his oeuvre is Mroué’s penchant for bravura performances, undoubtedly influenced by his background in theatre. In many of the videos, Mroué talks to the camera directly – almost as though delivering a public lecture. In ‘I, the Undersigned’ (2009) (above), for instance, Mroué offers a public apology for acts he committed during the civil war – a simple gesture highlighting the lack of any apology from those actually responsible for it.

While the works at SALT Galata are based on Mroué’s personal experiences, those addressing social discontent, political demonstrations and social uprisings are displayed at Beyoğlu. Greeting us when we enter the Galata venue is the work ‘Old House’ (2003) (above), in which the artist analyses different forms of control and suppression in a video effectively combining sound and image.

The subtly moving installation ‘Grandfather, Father and Son’ (2010) (above) is the centrepiece of this venue. To describe his family’s first-hand experience of the civil war, Mroué recreates a three-part installation: a system of library cards kept by his grandfather to identify his huge collection of books, with pages from a book written by his father and a video of Mroué reading them. This installation was one of the few Mroué chose to discuss at his press conference, underlining the importance he places on this particular work.

In a different vein, in ‘Don’t Spread Your Legs’ (2011) (above), Mroué recounts an act of censorship on video to expose the fragility and irrationality of his country’s government and its failure to resolve tensions caused mainly by sectarian divisions.

My own favourite work is the video installation ‘The Mediterranean Sea’ (2011) (above), which alludes to the fate of the 17,000 plus people still missing following the war – though that is just one interpretation, says Mroué, who sees this as the most poetic work in the exhibition.

There is a different feel at SALT Beyoğlu. The building’s location on Istiklal Caddesi – often the scene of demonstrations, leading as it does to Taksim Square, a focus of political rallies and mass protest – is in itself significant. The display starts with ‘People are Demanding’ (2011), which opens with the phrase ‘Ash sha’ab yurid...’ (The people want to...) – the first half of a slogan first used during the Tunis uprisings and later a popular chant in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, as well as in Beirut and Syria – in spray paint, followed by a list of seemingly random verbs in place of its actual ending, which translates as ‘bring down the regime’.

I also like the collection of photos in which Mroué places himself against a backdrop of mass protests. In ‘Leap into the Void’ (2011) (main image), he Photoshops himself jumping into a crowd of protesters, while in ‘Self-Portrait’ (2011) (above), he assumes a comical pose and spouts water from his mouth. These two tongue-in-cheek works underline the celebrity culture which extends even into protests and revolutions (remember the girl in the red dress from the Gezi protests).

A few of the works deal with the conflict in Syria, including the powerful ‘Double Shooting’ (2012) (above), set up as a large-scale flip-book installation. In a narrow corridor are some two dozen mounted photos each a single frame of a soldier shooting from a rooftop. The idea is to walk through the corridor in 18 seconds to get the desired flip-book effect of moving photos showing the soldier shooting at the spectator.

This theme continues in the central piece, ‘The Pixelated Revolution’ (2012), a video/lecture that compares shooting a gun with the shooting by amateurs of war and protest footage which is then disseminated on video-sharing websites. The main idea revolves around a cameraman shooting a soldier with his camera being shot at in turn by the soldier with a gun. The 28-minute video ponders interesting issues, but its pace was disturbed for me by Mroué constantly glancing at his notes. It would have been much more effective if he had learnt the script.

This exhibition is closely based on another exhibition entitled Rabih Mroué: Image(s), Mon Amour, displayed CA2M and curated by Aurora Fernández Polanco, with a few slight alterations. The exhibition at SALT runs until July 27, 2014.

Back in Karaköy/Tophane for the second part of our walk, we visit a few galleries, a museum and some interesting art institutions exploring a mixture of themes–  the majority, coincidentally, focusing on photography.

Installation view

GROWING UP IN A GROWING METROPOLIS

Start on Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi. Between the Fındıklı and Tophane tram stops, Columbia University’s off-campus urban future think-tank, Studio-X, at No 35A, is offering an interesting exhibition. If you haven’t yet visited this large, modern space built in glass with its name emblazoned boldly in pink on the front, now’s your chance. Inside, Growing Up in a Growing Metropolis focuses on children’s Istanbul and features works by some of Istanbul’s best-loved artists, as well as by younger members of society. 

Gülşin Ketenci, Kastamonu, 2006. The Köçek tradition, which flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries in Ottoman palaces, and particularly in harems, is still practiced in some parts of Anatolia as a form of traditional dance and entertainment.

ON THE ROAD

Cross the road and head towards the Tophane tram stop. You will see the big red sign for Istanbul Modern as you approach. Take a left and enter the grand red antrepo, where there is a new photography exhibition on offer. On the Road brings together stunning photographs from the Nar Photos archives. Says the exhibition’s curator, Sena Çakırkaya: ‘This year, Istanbul Modern celebrates its 10th anniversary. Within this scope, we collaborated with Nar Photos to present images from the country’s collective memory from the last 10 years.’

Saner Şen, Istanbul, 2013. Thousands of LGBT individuals and supporters gather for the Fourth Trans Pride Parade in Taksim Square.

Looking back on the process of putting the exhibition together, Çakırkaya says it wasn’t easy to select just 75 photographs by 20 artists from such a large archive. ‘The selected photographs present a comprehensive panorama of events in Turkey’s recent history, the effects of which are still felt today. Though we want to show various aspects of Turkey, spanning a wide range of subjects, our intention is not to represent Turkey in this exhibition. These are the images taken by the members of Nar Photos, shot on the road at various locations, just like steps taken on a long, arduous journey.’

Mert Çağıl Türkay, ‘Ego’, 2014, digital photography on fabric

MYSELF

Come back onto Meclis-i Mebusan Caddesi and, across the road, you will find the cavernous Ottoman arsenal Tophane i-Amire on the corner with Boğazkesen Caddesi. Three artists who all work in the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University’s Photography Department have curated a group show entitled Myself, exhibiting works they have produced themselves. One of the artists, Mert Çağil Türkay, says: ‘The three of us have the same ideas about selfishness and this shows in our artworks. That’s why we decided to open an exhibition under this concept.’ In his work (above), Türkay is influenced by Freud’s idea that the ‘ego is alike to a knight on a rampant horse’ and presents a photograph showing portraits of half-naked people. ‘It is about their selfishness and uncertainty and focuses on tolerating people with big egos in a busy city,’ he says. 

Elçin Acun, ‘Am I Erotic?’, digital photography

In Elçin Acun’s series (above), the artist questions a woman’s status. Using her own image, she resituates female representation as something repulsive in order to oppose the way women are usually portrayed – in an ‘aesthetic-pornography-eroticism’ context and as an object of desire imprisoned by male power.

Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, ‘Dock’, 2014, found wooden furniture, plank, magnet, engine driven mechanism, 195 x 100 x 25 cm

HEDA BÜYÜKTAŞÇIYAN’S LAND ACROSS THE BLIND

Past the park and in the backstreets behind the Kılıç Ali Pasha complex – where Tophane becomes Karaköy – you will find the narrow Ali Paşa Değirmeni Sokak, a street which typifies the neighbourhood emerging identity: chic, bohemian and buzzing. At No 16, the always compelling Galeri Mana is hosting the first solo exhibition of the Turkish artist, Hera Büyüktaşçıyan.

Hera Büyüktaşçıyan, ‘Studies for elevation’, 2014, drawing on paper, wooden shelf, 24.5 x 31 cm, shelf length: 24.5 cm

In Land Across the Blind, the artist uses the relationship between sea and land as a metaphor and explores the potential ‘to see beyond the visible’. Her installations follow such structures as balconies and docks to show the transitional space between the inside and the outside, the past and the present, the submarine realm and the surface of the land. Her drawings add another dimension. Enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Irem Sözen, #08, ‘Recall’ series, 2012

EDITIONS IV

Contemplate exhibitions you've already seen from one of the street-facing chairs at the popular coffee spot, Karabatak. Then continue down the street and, when it turns into Hoca Tahsin Sokak, you will reach Elipsis Gallery, which is exhibiting its fourth Editions show. Says the gallery’s founder, Sinem Yörük: ‘In their work these three exhibiting photographers all create parallel realities between nature and the past through their own experiences.’ Prices range from €350 to €1,250.

Oğuz Karakütük #11 ‘Delta’ series, 2014

Main image courtesy of Studio-X. 

Key: Blue – Studio-X, Green – Istanbul Modern, Red – Tophane i-Amire, Yellow – Galeri Mana, Purple – Elipsis Gallery

Click here for the interactive map.

A special event will take place at the Pera Museum tomorrow at which the music historian and Cornucopia contributor Dr Emre Aracı will honour the great British composer Sir Edward Elgar on the 80th commemoration of his death.

Some years back, Aracı came across a diary of Elgar’s in which the following passage described his visit to Istanbul in the early 20th century: ‘Glorious sunrise and the minarets of Stamboul began to come thro the mist – wonderful wonderful,’ wrote Elgar on September 25, 1905. This passage propelled Aracı to trace the British composer’s little-known trip to Istanbul and Izmir, and his research forms the basis of an illustrated lecture on the great composer's Turkish sojourn. 

A mini recital by the violinist Cihat Aşkın, with Aylin Ateş, a mezzo-soprano and Can Okan on the piano, will follow. This will also be a launch of Aracı’s new book Elgar in Turkey, published by the Pera Museum. The lecture will be in Turkish.

A number of Aracı's CDs are also available from the Cornucopia store.

The main image shows a painting of Sir Edward Elgar, O.M., painted in 1979. Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons. 

This Saturday (June 7) the Northern Forests Defence group is meeting at 6.30pm at the Tünel end of İstiklal Caddesi to speak up against the construction of the third Istanbul airport.

The controversial project will destroy not only a substantial portion of the Belgrade Forest but also Terkoz Lake, the city’s chief drinking-water source. The new airport is to be constructed on no fewer than 80 square kilometres of land surrounding the lake – and the environmental impact will be, in a word, devastating. A matter of little consequence, apparently.

Forums and solidarity groups will be joining the Northern Forests Defence group with their banners and flags. Sympathisers are invited (and encouraged) to take part. 

Adhering to the ethos that the results of archaeological discovery and analysis are important and deserve the widest possible audience, the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University is launching a new archaeological writing competition. Inviting submissions of accessible and engaging articles, accompanied by a single illustration, the winner will score $5,000 and have their article published in the spring 2015 volume of the Joukowsky Institute Publication series. Eight or ten runners-up will also have their articles published. 

The Joukowsky Institute believes that archaeology is worthy of a better level of writing, one that is both accessible and exciting to non-specialists, but at the same time avoids excessive simplification, speculation, mystification or romanticism. Some of the most effective writing in this vein has appeared not in professional venues, but in publications with a far wider readership, says the Institute. One example is Elif Batuman’s article in The New Yorker (December 19, 2011) on the Göbekli Tepe site in Turkey, and the many questions it raises about religion, technology and human social evolution. Read about Harald Hauptmann and Klaus Schmidt’s discovery of this momentous Neolithic temple art in southeast Turkey in our online article here or purchase Cornucopia 26.

Anyone may enter the competition, except faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students at the Joukowsky Institute. Original, not previously published articles of 5,000–6,000 words, accompanied by a single piece of artwork, are to be submitted before September 1, 2014 to joukowsky_institute@brown.edu. The results will be announced by November 2014. Any questions can be directed to Prof. John Cherry or Prof. Felipe Roja. Click here for more information.

We are in chic Nişantaşı this week for a very diverse gallery walk. Half solo, half group, the exhibitions we cover are concerned with lots of different themes and showcase international, as well as local talent. As some of the galleries prepare to close for the summer months, this is one of the last chances to see some art this season.

Monica Mazzone, ‘The Perfect Universe’, 2014, wood, 42 x 36 x 20 cm

Start at the north tip of Maçka Park. Down the leafy Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi, opposite Melanzana restaurant, Merkur Gallery, at No 12, is hosting an exhibition of the young Italian artist Monica Mezzano, entitled The Perfect Universe, before closing for the summer at the end of June. Says the gallery’s owner, Sabiha Kurtulmuş: ‘This show, which we consider to be a project rather than an exhibition, displays a few works which explore the concepts of infinity, geometry and mathematics.’ Prices range from €1,600 to €6,500.

Monica Mazzone, ‘Golden Skin’ 2014, wood, golden leaf, leather, 75 x 77 x 1 cm

Says Mazzone, rather poetically: ‘Everything stems from the need for unconditional love, where the concepts of time and attention play a key role in the search for the perfect emotion.’

Doğan Doğan, ‘Deep Emotion 3’, 2013, 130 x 170 cm

Parallel, on the famously fashionable Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi (main image), at No 7, Dirimart will open a new show this Thursday (June 12). Says the gallery’s manager, Doğa Oktem: ‘The series, Deep Emotion, is in a bit of a different vein from the artist Doğan Doğan. For each series, Doğan works with a different technique. For this exhibition, he was inspired by Pollock’s drip paintings and uses an oil painting thinner to act as watercolour. These paintings also have different layers, which create different levels of seeing and perceiving, and thus question the boundaries that both the artist and the audience are able to push.’ Enquire directly with the gallery for prices.

Doğan Doğan, ‘Deep Emotion 8’, 2013, 160 x 180 cm

Continued Oktem: ‘The series includes 10 pieces. Each piece has a similar principle. Doğan uses only three colours in his works: black, grey and white. His works are reminiscent of space and have uniformity between them. That is why it is difficult to pick a favourite. The whole series works as a kind of a divided space (or an endless sky).’

Can Akgümüş, Parallel Universes, 2013, C-print, 55 x 100 cm

Further up at No 22, Kare Gallery is hosting a conceptual group exhibition focusing on humans and their place in the universe, aptly entitled Where am I? Says the gallery’s Rasit Mutlu: ‘The exhibition displays eight artists, none of whom is represented by our gallery. We invited artists on the basis of our framework and how their works respond to our theme. For example, Can Akgümüş deals with the concept on an abstract level, whereas Zeynep Beler explores it on more human-centred approach.’ Prices range between TL1,000 and TL35,000.

Ismet Doğan, ‘Auto Series’, 2014, oil on canvas, 160 x 160 cm

Continues Mutlu: ‘Ismet Doğan’s canvas is an important piece. Its ambiguous setting both in terms of time and space, along with the depiction of a figure standing at the centre of the work, alludes and corresponds to the theme very well.’

A work by Suh Jeong Min

In a completely opposite vein, next door, Galeri Linart, is offering a mixed exhibition featuring works by its represented artists adhering to no particular theme. Mixed exhibition features works by Arda Yalkın, Suh Jeong Min, Sara Baruh, Murat Köseman and Engin Beyaz. Enquire directly with the gallery for prices. The gallery will close for the summer after this exhibition.

Joackim Eskildsen, ‘Mandai Nunez and Santamarina Brissa’, Fresno, California

Even further down the street, x-ist in the basement of Kaşıkçıoğlu Apartment at No 42, has a striking photography show that will run throughout the summer. Collected North brings together effective works exploring completely different themes – from the concept of time, to displaced families in China, to people living below the poverty line in America – by five renowned photographs, all belonging to the Helsinki School of Photography. Prices range between €2,000 and €8,000.

Anni Leppälä, ‘Drawers (girl’s head)’

Says the gallery’s manager, Yasemin Elçi: ‘As a gallery, photography is a discipline that we cherish greatly. The Helsinki School has never been exhibited in Turkey so we wanted our audiences to get acquainted with the photographers from this school. Working together with Gallery Taik Persons in Berlin, we selected artists that the Turkish audience could relate to.’

One of Semiha Șakir Elveren’s works

Then down Atiye Sokak, a narrow street full of appetising restaurants, and onto Teşvikiye Caddesi. The monument to Hüsrev Gerede stands at the intersection and down Maçka Caddesi at No 29, Galeri Eksen is hosting an exhibition of paintings by Semiha Șakir Elveren, entitled Come. Says the gallery’s, Ayla Buyar: ‘A major part of Elveren’s paintings is the use of text; she uses quotes from Halil Cibran, Mahmut Dervis and Rumi, as well as anonymous words and sayings. The artist wants to express her philosophies to Turkey and the world with her art.’ Prices range between TL2,000 and TL4,000.

Semiha Șakir Elveren, ‘Desire, love, happiness, as people are’

Says the artist: ‘I love working with oil as I have the chance to express myself better with this medium.’ Her paintings use colour, as well as symbolism, nicely and undoubtedly have the biggest Turkish flavour of all the art we have seen this week.

Main image courtesy of the The Sofa Hotel.

Key: Blue – Merkur Gallery, Red – Dirimart, Green – Kare, Yellow – Linart, Purple – x-ist, Magenta – Galeri Eksen

Click here for the interactive map.

Two very rewarding exhibitions are currently on at the Pera Museum, both showing works from a master of print. One is a household name – Andy Warhol – and the other is the lesser-known but very talented British artist, Stephen Chambers. Another thing linking the artists, says the museum’s general manager, M Özalp Birol, is the fact that they are, first and foremost, painters. 

The top two floors of the museum have been transformed into a Technicolor wonderland for Andy Warhol’s first comprehensive exhibition in Turkey. Not everyone may know that Warhol’s family was Slovakian (his real surname is Warhola) and these works come on loan from the Zoya Museum in Slovakia, which holds one of the most important Andy Warhol collections in Europe.

Andy Warhol, ‘Cowboys and Indians’,
1986, portfolio of ten works, Ed. 120/250, screenprint on paper, 91.4 x 91.4 cm

Though you will see iconic Warhol works such as ‘Campbell’s Soup’ in this exhibition, what are more interesting are his lesser-seen silkscreen series and drawings, focusing on subjects as far reaching and diverse as flowers, endangered species, Jews of the 21st century and cowboys and Indians. Warhol, of course, was obsessed with celebrity culture and imagery, and in the mid-1980s became interested in the stories and legends surrounding cowboys and Indians. Taking images of politicians and actors and putting them in cowboy or Indian garb, Warhol questions how the idea of the North American west has impacted on our perceptions of it.

Andy Warhol, ‘Endangered Species’,
1983, portfolio of ten works, Ed. 113/150, screenprint on paper, 96.5 x 96.5 cm

In Endangered Species, Warhol depicts 10 endangered animals from around the world. This series was commissioned in 1983 by Ronald and Frayda Feldman, gallery owners and political and environmental activists, with the idea emerging after conversations between them and Warhol about ecological issues.

Andy Warhol, ‘Camouflage’, 1987, portfolio of eight works, Ed. 6/80, screenprint on paper, 96.5 x 96.5 cm

Another group of lesser-known works is the artist’s 1986 Camouflage series. The constantly repeating patterns of military camouflage design appealed to Warhol’s interest in Abstract Expressionism. Rather than sticking to khaki greens and earthy browns, however, the king of colour employed bright yellows, reds, pinks, purples and blues, in order to remove much of the military symbolism while retaining the idea of hiding.

Andy Warhol, ‘Details of Renaissance Paintings (Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon, 1460)’, 1984, portfolio of four works, AP 6/12, screenprint on paper, 81.3 x 111.8 cm

In another homage to painting, Warhol gives Renaissance paintings a Pop twist. The above is his take on Paolo Uccello’s ‘Saint George and the Dragon’, 1470, held in the collections of London's National Gallery. Warhol’s version has a far more youthful appeal.

Andy Warhol, ‘Red Lenin’,
1987, screenprint on paper, AP 12/24

The other major part of the exhibition pays tribute to Warhol’s famous portraits of important figures. Besides the Marilyns and the Mick Jaggers there are works showing historical figures. The screenprint above shows his take on Lenin, against a backdrop of bloody, Communist red. Always interested in the cultural and political milieu of his time, Warhol produced this work in 1987, two years before the fall of Communism in Russia. Were he alive today, says James Warhola, Andy’s nephew, he would have been printing faces of reality TV stars: the Kardashians and Big Brother contestants.

On the third floor is something in a very different light: an exhibition of the work of the British artist, Stephen Chambers. Curated by Edith Devaney, curator of contemporary projects at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, this show presents a survey of Chambers’s paintings and graphic works.

Stephen Chambers ‘The Big Country, detail China’, 2012, screenprint on paper, 78 individual panels, each 56x76 cm, private Collection, London, photo: Peter Abraham

In the centre of the exhibition is The Big Country, an ambitious work comprised of 78 sheets of printed paper of uniform size – one of the largest prints ever produced. The work exemplifies the artist’s experimental approach to printmaking, demonstrating its value as an arena in which he can develop ideas, take risks and push artistic boundaries. Inspired by William Wyler’s 1958 western of the same name, the work is an allusion to the vastness of the American midwest and the experience of immigrants and frontiersmen whose vision of a better life inspired them to migrate to the States. It is really worth spending time with this piece, which takes up an entire wall. Its attention to detail and ability to tell myriad stories within one encompassing narrative is astounding.

Stephen Chambers, ‘The Martyrdom of St Ursula 1 (Venice Prints)’, 2005, monotype on paper, 39 x 44 cm, courtesy of Flowers Gallery and Robert Heller Collection, London

Two things impress in this exhibition: Chambers’s brilliant use of colour – just like Warhol a floor above (though Chambers’ works are far more muted than Warhol’s ultra-vivid pieces); and his portrayal of both wacky and everyday characters. There are also homages to different paintings – for example, the Blake Paintings pay tribute to the Gates of Paradise series by the 18th-19th-century English painter and printmaker William Blake. Warhol likewise channels different periods in painting, adding another connection between these two exhibitions.

Stephen Chambers, ‘Land of Staccato’
1989, oil on canvas,
142 x 117 cm, private collection, London

One particularly colourful and wonderfully detailed work is the one above, from an earlier period in Chambers’s career. Here the use of red as the colour of the both land and the building materials is evocative, and the precise depiction of workers makes for a rich and satisfying canvas.

Stephen Chambers, ‘Flemish Proverbs’ (To play dice at the wrong time, 
to keep drinking when he is drunk, impoverishes man's name and makes him stink), 2012, oil on board
 12 individual panels, each 39 x 49 cm, private collection, photo: FS Photography

There is also a new series, produced by Chambers last year especially for this exhibition. In Flemish Proverbs, Chambers was inspired by the Twelve Flemish Proverbs series by the 16th-century Dutch painter Pieter Brueghel. In addition to the economy of style in Brueghel’s works, Chambers was also struck by his depictions of the human experience in these panels. These timeless proverbs show human vanity, frailty and greed, and as Chambers says ‘reveal eternal truths about human behaviour’.

The exhibitions run until July 20, 2014.

Main image shows Stephen Chambers, ‘Little Boy Found’, 2007, oil on gessoed panel, 34 x 44 cm, private collection, Photo: Peter Abrahams